This invention relates, in general to certain new and useful improvements in foldable bicycles and, more particularly, to foldable bicycles which are made of a relatively light weight construction which are capable of being easily folded and unfolded.
In recent years, there has been an emergence of designs and various produced and commercially available foldable bicycles of the two-wheeled structure which include a main frame, a seat, a handlebar structure and a pair of wheels mounted on the main frame. These various forms of foldable bicycles are designed to either be folded or otherwise collapsed in order to fold into somewhat of a compact unit for storage and easy transport. However, these foldable bicycles included many inherent disadvantages which are hereinafter described.
With respect to the foldable bicycles which were heretofore available and many of which are presently available, these bicycles usually include a main frame which can be folded about a hinge axis and a handlebar structure which can be folded downwardly as well as a collapsible seat structure. However, when these bicycles are folded, they do not necessarily form a relatively small compact unit. Moreover, when folded, they are not designed so that they can be pushed along the ground or other supporting surface.
It has been well established that for best handling by an average-sized adult, relative positions of the seat post, handlebars, pedal cranks and the like should adhere to conventional pre-established positioned relationship. Moreover, the bicycle should be designed so that it can be opened to the desired size and with the desired positioned relationship to the collapsed or folded components. Nevetheless, one of the serious disadvantages of these foldable bicycles is that when they are opened for riding, they are not easily opened to achieve the desired size as when initially collapsed.
One of the principal problems of the foldable bicycles heretofore available is that the bicycle is not necessarily sufficiently light in weight to enable the bicycle to be portable when in the folded condition. These presently available foldable bicycles are still somewhat heavy in their construction due to the fact that they are formed of steel and other heavy metals. The criterion of a small folded size of a bicycle must necessarily affect the frame design, and in the case of the prior art, the frame designs do not make full use of the desired structure in a full-sized adult bicycle. Moreover, there has also been some compromise in the strength to weight ration in order to achieve minimum design size.
One of the primary problems with the presently available foldable bicycles is that the bicycles are constructed in such manner that they are inconvenient if not difficult to fold and unfold. In many cases more than one person may be required to unfold the bicycle or otherwise to completely fold the bicycle and lock the same in the folded condition.
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a foldable bicycle which has a high strength-to-weight ratio type of construction and which can be folded very efficiently and quickly into a relatively small, compact unit and easily unfolded or reopened to its original rideable condition.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a foldable bicycle of the type stated which can be folded form an opened position and reopened with the components thereof assuming substantially the same positional relationship in the reopened position.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a foldable bicycle of the type stated which is highly durable in its construction and which can be made in a wide variety of sizes.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a foldable bicycle of the type stated which can be folded in such position that the front and reat wheels have central parallel aligned axes to enable convenient rolling of the bicycle on the ground or other supporting surface.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a foldable bicycle of the type stated in which the bicycle can be folded in a unique manner to generate a relatively small, compact unit, and which does not otherwise sacrifice strength-to-weight ratio or efficiency and convenience in folding and opening the bicycle.
It is another salient object of the present invention to provide a method of collapsing and opening a bicycle in which the various components thereof can be collapsed or otherwise folded and thereafter reopened to the same preestablished positional relationship.
With the above and other objects in view, my invention resides in the novel features of form, construction, arrangement and combination of parts presently described and pointed out in the claims.